The Baby's Bodyguard

by Stephanie Newton

  Then his expression hardened. “If you want to look at it like that.”

  She shook her head. “I’m not going to be a part of that.”

  “You don’t have to.” He picked the baby up. “I will.”

  Janie smiled, patted his face. “Da.”

  His I-mean-business face melted and he blew a sputtery kiss into Janie’s neck, sending her into gales of baby giggles and squirms. “All right, peanut, let’s go see an old friend.”

  “Wait.” Kelsey got to her feet, still glowering at him despite wanting to give in when he got all sweet with the baby. “I want to be in the room. Someone needs to watch out for her.”

  His jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything, just held the door open for her to walk through.

  She opened the door on the opposite side of the hall. Ethan walked through it with the toddler in his arms. Viktoria had her head on her arms, but when she heard the door she looked up. She got to her feet, trembling.

  “Now you’ve seen her.” Ethan backed toward the door.

  “Please.” The word was a whisper, but full of need.

  Janie heard the familiar voice and whipped her head around, her eyes wide. When she saw Vika, she threw herself forward. Ethan caught her, but not before Viktoria had taken a quick step toward them, hands outstretched.

  With a quick look at Ethan, Viktoria took another step forward and took Janie into her arms. She closed her eyes as Janie smiled and rubbed her face on Vika’s shoulder. Viktoria whispered in a language that Kelsey didn’t understand.

  When the woman they suspected of trafficking over one hundred babies finally opened her eyes, they were damp with unshed tears. “She was with me a long while.”

  Kelsey stepped forward. “Is she yours?”

  Viktoria looked at her in surprise. “No, not mine. I couldn’t adopt her out because she was sick. I tried once, but she cried so hard when we handed her over to the new family that she had one of her attacks. They gave her back immediately, said they weren’t prepared for medical issues.”

  “Where is her mother?”

  Their witness shook her head. “I don’t know.”

  Ethan made a noise beside her and Viktoria looked to him, her survival instinct shining fiercely in her eyes. “I don’t know. She could’ve been sold, but I suspect that she is dead. She knew that her child had not been adopted out and she fought them. I think they knew she would try to escape to get back to Jane.”

  “The others?” Kelsey’d had enough of Viktoria having her hands on the baby and reached for Janie, who happily came back to her.

  Vika sat heavily in the leather chair. “I only know the part of the business I am responsible for. I get the babies when they are born and I take them to the couple that is adopting them and get papers signed.”

  “Where do the babies come from?” Her voice sliced through the air.

  In contrast, Viktoria’s voice was weary. “Their mothers are orphans. Some of them like me, economic orphans. Some are real orphans. All from the streets. The boss brings them over when they get pregnant. See?”

  “They are brought here pregnant?” A sick feeling knotted Kelsey’s stomach.

  A nod from Viktoria, but she didn’t look up. “He works with the local clinics to find the girls.”

  Kelsey looked at Ethan. He motioned her to continue questioning Viktoria. She could see why—she’d had more luck with her in the last ten minutes than he had in two hours. “He lures them here with the promise of a new life for them and their baby. A job. Then when he gets them here, he tells them what? How does he make them turn over their baby?”

  Viktoria’s voice was harsh. “I am not part of this, but I know how he does it. Once they are here, he takes away their papers, isolates them—makes them believe that if they go for help they will be arrested.”

  “Then when they give birth, he makes them sign papers giving the baby up for adoption.” Kelsey filled in the blanks. “What about the home study?”

  The woman hesitated, but apparently decided she’d traded enough for her momentary visit with Janie. “I don’t know any more.”

  “Don’t know or won’t say?”

  Viktoria looked up at the ceiling, the equivalent of a shrug. “Doesn’t matter. I want to see the baby again in the morning.”

  “And if we allow that, you’ll magically remember more information?” Ethan’s lazy voice cut into the conversation.

  “Is possible there is more I might have forgotten. I am very tired.” Viktoria yawned and looked past Kelsey to Ethan. “Is there a room where I might rest?”

  Ethan waved his brother into the room. “He’ll show you to a room. The FBI will be here in the morning, so any advantage you might’ve gained by telling us what you know will be lost. They will take you into custody. Trafficking children for profit is illegal.”

  As Tyler led Viktoria out of the room, she looked back. “The young women are in the United States legally. The babies are born citizens of the United States. The adoptions are processed according to the law.”

  Ethan closed his eyes and ran a hand over his short hair, breathing a frustrated sigh.

  “Is she right? Is there no legal recourse here?” Kelsey demanded an answer. Janie squirmed in her arms, clearly unhappy at her tone.

  He walked to the door and closed it. “At the very least, we know they kidnapped my son and laundered him through their system. We know that they coerce these young women into giving up their parental rights, which is also illegal.”

  “What do you think happens to them after they give birth?” She wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

  Ethan’s blue-gray eyes turned to ice. “I think Cantori, or whatever he calls himself now, sells them to the highest bidder—like my cover as a businessman. I was right all along about trafficking the girls. I just didn’t know how far they were willing to go to make a profit.”

  “It makes me want to hunt Cantori down. And, believe it or not, I’m pretty good at hunting deadbeats down and making them pay.” Kelsey lifted Janie higher in her arms. The toddler made a fist and brought her fingers to her mouth.

  “What does that mean, what she just did?”

  “When you put your fingers together and touch your chin, it means ‘eat.’” She gave the baby a kiss on the cheek. “Let’s go get you some dinner, okay?”

  As they left the room, Gracie stopped Ethan. “I hope it’s okay with you, but I made up the pool house for Kelsey and Janie.”

  Ethan frowned. “That’s where you live.”

  “Usually, yes. But we have extra guests tonight. Another member of Brad’s team came in and we have Nolan and now Viktoria Arsov. Kelsey, you need room for the baby and you need to be safe. The pool house is secure. Ethan, you can stay on the boat and be in shouting distance.”

  “And you?”

  “There’s a Murphy bed in my office for occasions just like this. Believe me, it’s not the first time we’ve used it. The only one that’s going to be put out is my cat, and he’ll get over it.” As she talked, Gracie walked toward the door. “Tyler left you dinner in the oven, and I had one of the girls move the crib.”

  “I feel like we’re imposing.” Kelsey felt horrible. They weren’t paying guests, or even close.

  “Stop. You’re family. You’ve been adopted. At least Janie has.” Gracie chucked Janie under the chin. “So go feed my baby. I’ll see you tomorrow morning.”

  Kelsey threw her free arm around Gracie and pulled her close, not knowing any other way to express the affection that welled up in her. “Thank you.”

  It had been years since she’d had a real friend. Maybe since she’d been a child. Once you lost everything, it got easier and easier to let life sift through your fingers, like so many grains of sand. But sometimes—sometimes, it made sense to hold on to the gifts God gave you. And she had a feeling this was one of those times.

  She felt Ethan’s hand at her elbow as he guided her down the patio steps and across the marble terrace toward the pool
house. And she wondered … would he be a gift? Or would he be one more important thing in her life that she had to let go of?

  “Ethan!” His name was being bellowed.

  He stepped out on deck to find his little brother, Marcus, on the pier. At fourteen, Marcus was more legs than anything, something basketball coaches kept trying to take advantage of, but height was not an advantage for Marcus. He ran into everything.

  His curly dark hair had been clipped close to his head. He’d grown up so much in the last couple of years, which served only to remind Ethan how much he’d missed in the two years without his little boy.

  “Dude! I need to talk to you.” His brother was bouncing back and forth from one foot to the other. Marcus’s T-shirt said The police never think it’s as funny as you do. Ethan muffled a laugh.

  “Does Mom know you have that shirt on?” He leaned against the opposite side of the boat, crossing his legs at the ankle. This could be fun. “’Cause I’m pretty sure she wouldn’t find it amusing.”

  Marcus let out a long drawn-out sigh, making sure Ethan could hear it, and pulled a hooded sweatshirt from his backpack. He tugged it on over his head and glared at Ethan. “Better, your majesty?”

  “Why yes, my loyal subject.” Ethan stepped off the boat onto the dock and started toward shore. “What are you doing here?”

  “I have a problem.”

  Ethan’s steps faltered as he realized Marcus had specifically come to him with a problem, but he picked it back up. “So you’re here because, why? You want me to run interference with Mom?”

  Marcus laughed. “No, for real, Mom’s cool. But she doesn’t know anything about girls. She tried to tell me Dad could give me advice.”

  Girls. Ethan took a deep breath. “Well, Dad’s been married a long time. Some would say that would point to him having a fairly good understanding of women.”

  His little brother looked at him and scratched his head with one finger. “Maybe I should wait until Tyler’s finished with dinner.”

  “No, no—I got this. Give it to me straight up. What’s going on?”

  “There’s a dance,” Marcus blurted.

  “Oh. And you want to go?” Asking a girl to a school dance had to rank right up there with shooting yourself in the foot. Not that he’d done either.

  “Yeah, kinda. There’s this girl I like. We’re talking, you know. But I heard her say she thought she was going to go to the dance with all the other cheerleaders. And that’s not chill, dude. Now if I ask her, she has a good excuse not to go.” Marcus jammed his hands in his pockets and stepped off the end of the dock onto the shore.

  “You need to ask her anyway.”

  “But—”

  “No, hear me out.” Ethan put his hand on Marcus’s arm and Marcus’s mouth slammed shut. “She probably said that because she was afraid she wasn’t going to have a date and she wanted to save face. I bet she wants to go with you.”

  They walked toward the pool house. Marcus had misery written all over his face. “What do I say?”

  “The best thing would be something like, ‘Hey, would you go to the dance with me?’”

  “You’re stupid.”

  “No, he’s smart.” Kelsey’s voice came from behind them. Ethan hadn’t heard her come out, and obviously Marcus hadn’t either because he whirled around. He whistled under his breath. “Whoa, dude.”

  Ethan elbowed his little brother in the ribs. Hard. “Manners.”

  “Why is Ethan smart? I thought women liked mysterious men.” Marcus looked at Kelsey, giving her the hard question, thank goodness.

  “In this case, she’s probably wondering if she’ll have a date to the dance and she might be wondering if you even like her. It’s much better to have a straightforward approach. It also might help if you invite her friends to go along. It would take the pressure off the two of you.”

  “Is that how Ethan did it with you?” The fourteen-year-old crossed his arms and leaned back.

  She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.

  “We work together, shrimp. This is Kelsey.” Ethan resisted the urge to elbow his brother again. The first time was obviously ineffective. The problem was, with Marcus, he wasn’t sure one more would do the trick.

  “Mom just dropped me off while she went to get gas, so she’s probably waiting out there. I’ve gotta jam.” He shot Ethan a sideways look. “All right, I’ll do it, but if I ask Shawna to the dance and she says no, I’m gonna pound you.”

  “You can try.” Ethan’s voice sounded slow and lazy, he knew, but it was deceptive. He could still pound a fourteen-year-old. He laughed and pulled Marcus into a hug. “Go. I’ll see you later.”

  Marcus ambled off, tossing a nonchalant wave back toward them. “See ya. Nice meeting you, Kelsey.”

  “He’s really cute.”

  Ethan stood in the door of the pool house and watched his brother’s long-legged stride. “He’s a total pain, but we can’t imagine our family without him.”

  His brother was growing up. It wouldn’t be long before Marcus would be fighting the girls off. It hadn’t been that long ago that he was a chubby ten-year-old with diabetes and a foster family who couldn’t care less about him.

  He’d been used by that foster family for the meager check they’d gotten from the state for his care. Like those young girls and those babies had been used. It burned him up.

  Marcus had almost died because of the neglect of one foster family. How many women and children had suffered at the hands of Cantori and his ilk?

  There was a bit of a chill in the air, and Ethan found he needed it. Generally, he had a knack for taking information and leveraging it into more information. But he didn’t have any idea how to take what they’d learned today and make it into a lead they could follow.

  Viktoria had given them lots of facts but no leads. It was hard to believe that hadn’t been on purpose. Frustration built in him like a summer storm building offshore.

  Ethan dropped his head. God, please, help me to know what to do next. I don’t know where to turn.

  He opened his eyes. “So, I’m guessing the munchkin is asleep?”

  “She’s out.” Kelsey leaned against the doorjamb, mesmerized by the fountain in the pool. “She didn’t sleep much today with all that was going on, so she was ready for an early night.”

  “Will you be okay in the pool house alone tonight?”

  “Yes, you’re right down at the end of the dock, and Nolan installed the same security here as the house.” She ducked under his arm and walked out onto the pool deck. “Do you want to sit out here for a while? I could use some fresh air.” She wiggled the baby monitor at him as she dropped into one of the sunbathing chairs.

  He settled in the chair beside her and stretched out his legs. Without really thinking about it, he reached for her hand.

  “What’s going on in your head, Ethan Clark?”

  “Too much to figure. I have no idea where to look for Tony Cantori. I had every possible trace put on him before I officially left the FBI. If there had been anything, someone would’ve found him, but there’s been no trace—electronic or otherwise.”

  “I think you’re avoiding talking about what you’re really thinking.”

  “Do you mean Charlie?”

  She nodded. “It would be hard not to be thinking about him.”

  He looked at their joined fingers, but didn’t say anything. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to talk, but more that—with her—he was afraid if he started, he wouldn’t be able to stop the flood.

  “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to. I know the last few days must have been awful for you.” Her words stumbled to a stop and she sent him a look full of compassion and caring. The same kind of look that had sent him running away from well-meaning people.

  But somehow, compassion from Kelsey he could take. There was something about her—she didn’t coddle, didn’t judge.

  He rubbed her finger with his thumb, and when her eyes ski
mmed up to meet his, he shrugged a little, tried to come up with the words to explain. “I feel … guilty. That I didn’t know he was alive. Somehow I should’ve been able to feel it. Know it.”

  She gripped his hand tighter but didn’t speak.

  “I watched her die, Kels—it was the most horrible thing I’ve ever seen. Everything I did was to build a safer world for my family, and I couldn’t keep them safe. I was still alive, but I didn’t want to be.”

  “I know.” Her eyes were brimming, but the tears wouldn’t fall. “I was there when my parents died.”

  “What?”

  She blinked and two tears streaked down her cheeks. “I know what it’s like to see people you love die. Then to have to go on as if they were never there. It’s like life played a cruel trick. I kept waiting to wake up and find out it was all a nightmare, but it wasn’t.”

  His lips were trembling as he listened. With some effort, he stilled them. “Yes. It was like that. I kept waiting for Amy to open the door, walk in and make me a part of the joke.”

  “And Charlie?”

  He swallowed hard, not even trying to stop the memory of those first days after. “I was so messed up that I didn’t try to finish the case. And now I know that was the point. They wanted me to quit. I have to know why. What was I so close to finding out that they felt they had to kill my wife and steal my child?”

  “I don’t know, Ethan. Do you think we’re closer to finding out, now that Viktoria came forward to save our Janie?”

  “Only if she gives us information to move forward. Right now, she isn’t giving us anything. It’s helpful to know what they were doing and how they were doing it, but we need the who.” Who would do that to him, to his family.

  “We’ll get there.”

  “I can’t make any contact with Charlie until I know he’ll be safe. We already have one baby in danger.”

  “We can protect her and make sure that we protect Charlie too.” She leaned forward. “You have a whole team of people helping you. Tyler, Gracie, Nolan, Joe Sheehan. And you have me. I’m not going to let you go through this alone.”

  Without warning, not even knowing what he was about to do, he pulled her forward, sealing her mouth to his. He brushed his free hand across the silk of her hair.